Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Understanding that the Shiner Brand isn't really a craft maker, they do offer a few beers that are worth a try and plus its a great local favorite for us Texans.

When poured in a Pint Glass:The color is an amber with plenty of bubbles. The head fizzes out rather quickly. The taste holds obvious hints of the citrus fruit added. It goes down smooth and is a great summer refresher. (383 characters)

The label mentions the additions of Texas Ruby Red grapefruit and ginger. Poured from the longneck twisty into a Pilsener glass. A moderate pour produces only about a half-inch head, which disappears within about a minute, leaving absolutely no lacing. The beer is an amber color with big fizzy bubbles rising.

The aroma is distinctly of grapefruit, but not overwhelmingly so. Grapefruit and ginger are quite apparent in the flavor, but seem fairly well balanced by a base bitterness suggesting (what else?) grapefruit pith. Some subtle floral notes are also discernable; perhaps also just a bit of honey. Underneath it all, a slight touch of pale malt flavor adds a cracker-like note. It's sweet overall, but not cloying. The mouthfeel is rather spritzy. A very mild lingering bitterness connects sips.

I'm enjoying this beer during my lunch break. This refreshing beverage provides a good alternative to a soda pop or an iced tea, and the low ABV means you can drink two or three of these without going back to your job buzzed and ready for a nap. (1,060 characters)

Nice ruby-tinted amber color, but very little head.Not much aroma to speak of.Definite ginger flavor coming off the first sip. Little to no grapefruit flavor or feel despite the name sake. Suggests it is best when served ice cold. Mildly refreshing at ice cold, but there are more refreshing beers with a lot more to offer. Overall it doesn't do much well apart from color. (377 characters)

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours slightly hazy bright orange color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of slightly tart grapefruit, lemon, lime, ginger, pear, cracker, bread, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of grapefruit juice, ginger, and pale malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of slightly tart grapefruit, lemon, lime, ginger, pear, cracker, bread, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Slight herbal spice bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, lemon, lime, ginger, pear, cracker, bread, and herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a very short bit. Good balance and solid robustness of grapefruit juice, ginger, and pale malt flavors; with a good malt/spiciness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Good amount of dryness after the finish as well. Medium carbonation and light-medium boded; with a very smooth, crisp, and slightly bready mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is very well hidden with zero warming present after the finish after the finish as expected of 4%. Overall this is a good spiced blonde ale style. All around good balance and solid robustness of grapefruit juice, ginger, and pale malt flavors; and very smooth and crisp to drink. A nicely enjoyable offering. (1,453 characters)

I picked this up at the Binny's store in Plainfield, IL as part of a build-your-own six pack for $9.99, making this single 12oz bottle $1.67. No freshness date.

The beer poured out a crystal clear light strawberry color but made just a thin white rim for a head and even that dissipated in under 10 seconds. There was also no lacing. Looked more like a flavored water than a beer.

Faint citrus smell along with a spiciness.

The spice turns out to be ginger and it tastes like a grapefruit flavored ginger ale with a nasty mineral water medicinal flavor to it. No malt to speak of and just 13 IBUs worth of bitterness.

Best thing about this is its color. Gorgeous ruby red with tiny tiny head. Zero lacing. Actually tastes quite nice, fruity. Grapefruit and citrus notes predominate. Great for beach or hot summer day when you want something light and cold. (243 characters)

Grapefruit in beer seems to really be catching on. Shiner comes out with their version of a grapefruit beer, which in fact gave me the suggestion of another beverage. At 4.01% alcohol by volume, this is, by a whisker, NOT a true session beer. Coming from a 12 ounce bottle, on to the beer:

I'm not sure if I'm looking at ale or ginger ale, as this among the most dullest beers I've seen. It looks like a de-fizzed soda with a squirt of visible bubbles. There's no head, the body looking still, and the color a faded orange. But its smell has something. I don't get grapefruit, but I get a good kick of pleasing ginger. Gosh, it smells like a ginger ale. Where's the beer?

Ruby Redbird sort of redeems itself as a beverage, as it tastes like a beer with added flavors. There's a generic dry pale malt backbone carrying a small springboard of red grapefruit and ginger. It tastes like a radler, and the taste isn't so bad. It's a light bodied beer with bubbles that remind me of soda.

Credit Shiner for trying, but let's bring out the shotgun, kill the Redbird, and walk back to the laboratory. (1,096 characters)

This is a pretty good ginger beer, and a pretty lacking grapefruit beer. My partner tore through the six pack on a hot day when I was out, but the one I had was marginal - nice, not offensive, but utterly absent the grapefruit flavor I was looking for when I bought it.

A nice 'it's really hot out' beer, but I don't know if that saves it - I really do think I'm being hung up on the grapefruit on the label; but, then, I wouldn't have bought it just for the ginger. (468 characters)

M: Medium-bodied with next to no carb. Straddles the line between syrupy & oily, yet it all works well for the flavors. Finishes short & crisp.

O: Unbelievably well-executed brew from Shiner. Once you get past the blah appearance, it just gets better & better with each sip. They really seemed to have upped the ginger content this year & that's not a bad thing. (923 characters)

I should've known better. Why did I buy a six pack? I could barely finish it. It's not a terrible summer beer, but Im not sure I wouldn't prefer a PBR on a hot summer day. I know I would if I'm buying. (201 characters)

I had this on Tap and in a bottle to make sure the first one wasn't spoiled or tainted. This beer is a decent amber color and smells like grapefruit and ginger. Not sweet Grapefruit and spicy ginger, but more like the essential oils used for perfumes. It tastes just like it smells, perfume and beer. I guess I give it points for the style and trying something new, but this is one of the worst beers I have ever had in my life. Not for me. (440 characters)

Smell: Totally of ginger, did not feel any grapefruit. Smelled like ginger ale

Taste: Has some ginger ale taste to it, but extremely bland. Could taste something on the tip of my tongue, but the rest of my tongue just felt like some liquid had passed through it without any taste at all

Feel: Somewhat viscous, but that's about it.

I won't probably have it again. Taste like bland ginger ale. (396 characters)

Probably expired. I got a bomber of this for $1.99, it's February, and this is a summer beer.That asside, I just bought a grapefruit sculpin and decided I needed this as well.Obviously pales in comparison to the former.The head fades fast, no lacingSmells of grapefruit and ginger. Not much else.Tastes like the same.Could be a great refreshing summer beer, but I would like it to have a little more beer flavor to it.If it were a bit worse, I might guess it was a mass produced flavored beer. (500 characters)

Pours a clear deep gold producing 1 finger of rapidly diminishing, slightly off-white, champagne-like head that leaves not a hint of lacing. Aroma is remarkably reminiscent of Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale with hints of grapefruit, caramel, lemon/lime & grain in that order. Taste is overwhelmingly ginger (more Canada Dry-like in the mouth) with hints of grapefruit, lemon-lime, caramel & mineral water. Finishes thin & lemon-lime citrusy with a ginger, peppery spiciness. Aftertaste is a shortlived, low level citrus, mineral in a thin bitterness before fading to an afterthought. Mouthfeel is light bodied, thin, watery with lively carbonation, dry, spicy & prickly. I must confess that my rating is based on personal prefence & not on parameters & merits within the style as I not sure that I have ever had a representative of the style that I liked and would drink again. (870 characters)

Interesting, my first review for a Spoetzl beer. I haven't noticed them around MA much but just saw this on a local shelf and got a single because... why not. Grapefruit and ginger surely sounds like a good combo.

A- Filtered dark orange body with some red hues in the center as you might expect from the name. A fizzy puff appears on the beer for very briefly before transforming to a tiny ring at the edges. Lacing is rather rare.

T- Ginger ale soda with a fairly strong hint of grapefruit juice and general citrus. A moderate sweetness and caramelized sugar note joins that with hints of apple and light fruit esters. Ginger spiciness has an authenticity to it.

MF- Extremely light bodied and defining watery as far as beers go. As far as texture, all I can really list is fizziness reminiscent of a soda with high-end carbonation. Finishes with slight spiciness on the palate from the ginger.

Refreshing with a moderate amount of true ginger flavor and spiciness. Similar to a ginger soda in both flavor and mouthfeel which is both a good and bad thing for a beer. For me it is just too watery and soda-like to be taken seriously. (1,305 characters)

This is a brew that many will rate poorly based on their personal preference, as opposed to how well it was done within it's style. I'm not a huge Shiner fan nor am I a fruit beer person, but in my opinion, they hit the nail right on the head with this one.

The beer pours with a thin fizzy soda like head which vanishes seconds later. Right off the bat you are hit hard with ginger and citrus on the nose. It almost smells like some sort of fresh ginger cocktail. The initial flavor is smooth and on the sweet side, but the sweetness quickly fades as it hits the sides and back of the tongue where it becomes dry and crisp. The ginger is present from start to finish, and that juicy red grapefruit comes through perfectly in the finish. It's light bodied and so juicy, but it isn't a sweet fruit beer by any means. To me it makes a perfect substitute for juice with breakfast, or as a refreshing alternative to a cider on a hot day. This is a wonderfully crafted unique brew that serves it's intended purpose perfectly. (1,029 characters)

A pretty average summer beer. Poured into a flute, there was some initial carbonation with lots of bubbles and a fizzy white head. The head died down pretty quick and left no lacing on the glass. The reddish copper color ws nice though.

Smell was pretty faint, some ginger and a little grapefruit.. Taste was a little stronger, the grapefruit came out more and the ginger was subdued enough not to be annoying. No strong flavors though, not much in the way of malt. The bitterness was provided by the grapefruit.

Mouthfeel is light, with a little kick from the ginger and grapefruit.

In all, a pretty average drink. I could not see myself doing pitchers of this even on a hot day. (688 characters)

Amber golden color with a fluffy head that is short lived.Predominant sweet aroma of oxidized grapefruit juice and ginger.Soda flavor with artificial notes of grapefruit and mostly ginger, not otherwise.Dry aftertaste with a very mild bitterness.Light body with soda like carbonation.This didn't taste it as beer, it sure tasted as a ginger beer. I was expecting a flavorful grapefruit APA, but it came out as a sugary soda drink. This could have been so much better. (472 characters)

Has a very floral and fruity note to it. Appearance is clear golden as expected. Grapefruit bitterness once you taste and that kinda ruins the feel. I know some folks like it so I gave it a decent review to help others along. (226 characters)